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The Tongva language (also known as the Gabrielino language) is an Uto-Aztecan language spoken by the Tongva, a Native American people who live in and around Los Angeles, California. Tongva is closely related to several other indigenous languages of the area, including the Cahuilla language and the Serrano language, all of which are in the Takic language group.
Modern Southern Californian place-names from Tongva include: Pacoima, Tujunga, Topanga, Azusa, the Cahuenga in Cahuenga Pass and the Cucamonga in Rancho Cucamonga.
The Tongva language is primarily documented in the unpublished early-20th century fieldnotes of John Peabody Harrington. The last native speaker of the Tongva language is said to have died in the 1970s. Modern Tongva are attempting to revive the language, using written vocabularies and comparisons to the closely related Cahuilla language.
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Some Tongva words
Collected by C. Hart Merriam (1903)[1]
(Merriam refers to them as the Tongvā)
- Numbers
- Po-koo
- Wěh-hā
- Pah-hā
- Wah-chah
- Mah-har
- Pah-vah-hā
- Wah-chah-kav-e-ah
- Wa-ha's-wah-chah
- Mah-ha'hr-kav-e-ah
- Wa-hās-mah-hah'r
- Wa-hā's-mah-hah'r-koi-po-koo
- Wa-hā's-mah-hah'r-koi-wěh-hā
- grizzly bear
- hoó-nahr
- hoon-nah (subject)
- hoon-rah (object)
- black bear
- pí-yah-hó-naht
Collected by Alexander Taylor (1860)[1]
- Numbers
- po-koo
- wa-hay
- pa-hey
- wat-sa
- mahar
- pawahe
- wat-sa-kabiya
- wa-hish-watchsa
- mahar-cabearka
- wa-hish-mar
Taylor claims "they do not count farther than ten"
- bear
- hoo-nar
Collected by Dr. Oscar Loew (1875)[1]
- Numbers
- pu-gu'
- ve-he'
- pa'-hi
- va-tcha'
- maha'r
- pa-va'he
- vatcha'-kabya'
- vehesh-vatcha'
- mahar-kabya'
- vehes-mahar
- puku-hurura
- vehe-hurura
- bear
- unar
Collected by Charles Wilkes, USN (1838-1842)[1]
- Numbers
- pukū
- wehē
- pāhe
- watsā
- bear
- hundr
Collected by Native Languages of the Americas
- desert fox
- erow
Unreferenced
- Pacoima = from the root word Pako enter, meaning the entrance
- Tujunga= from the root word old woman tux'uu
- Azusa= from the word -shuuk 'Ashuuksanga= his grandmother
External links
- Reconstructed Tongva spoken (streaming video, Tongva speech beginning at 35:10)
- [1] (Native Languages of the Americas)
- Gabrielino language overview at the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
References
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